


Teen Angel Kuroko

by havisham



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, M/M, Non-Canonical Character Death, Tragedy/Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 03:22:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10958610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havisham/pseuds/havisham
Summary: Taiga, freshly arrived on campus, meets his new housemate, plays basketball and confronts mortality.





	Teen Angel Kuroko

Now, the student-athlete housing wasn’t _exactly_ as nice as the glossy college brochures Taiga had browsed through had promised it would be, but that was probably due to the fact that he hadn't picked to live in one of those brand-new lofts near the new stadium, but rather a moldering duplex that was nearer the athletic complex.

The reasons he did was were numerous and complex but mostly boiled down to the fact that he thought it would be better to share a house with one person than an apartment, no matter how nice, with four guys. 

The consequences of Taiga’s choice was an older building, obviously a family home that had been split up back in the fifties, with a red brick exterior and dark green shutters. The grass out front was dead. Some hopeful soul had set up a birdhouse out front, but it was empty of everything except grime. 

Frankly, the house looked haunted. 

“Ah,” said Taiga’s enrollment counselor when they'd come out here during orientation. “I know it says it's a duplex, but you and your housemate will be the only people living here. Think about the privacy you'll have!”

She gave Taiga a hopeful look, which he returned, since it seemed like the thing to do. 

“It's just temporary, anyway, this whole block is slated to be demolished and become lofts next year. I'm sure the university will take your current placement into account at that time.” 

“It's okay,” Taiga said, because it really seemed like she was waiting for him to respond. “I'm pretty used to living alone. It shouldn't be a problem.” 

“You’re such a sweetheart,” the counselor said, and there was a look in her eye that reminded him of Alex. Alarmed, Taiga pulled back, but she didn't kiss him. 

Quickly, he said, “You said I had a housemate?”

“Yes! He's an international student, from Japan. A phenomenal basketball player, I think you two will get along just fine.” 

“Right,” Taiga said drily. Of course they'd stick the two Japanese kids together, never mind that he was Nisei and had never lived in Japan. He'd had a chance to go live with his dad in Tokyo at the start of high school, but then his dad’s work assignment had changed to Seattle instead. Taiga had opted to stay in LA with his mom, though she too traveled a lot for work and Taiga essentially lived alone. Sometimes he wished he had lived abroad when he was younger.

This university was supposed to have a really good study abroad program that he’d been interested in when he applied. He really hoped that it also wouldn’t translate into something like spooky duplex in a depressed area of town. 

*

Taiga got moved in pretty quickly. His mother had insisted on shopping and packing up his stuff in LA and shipping it, via storage container, across the country. He’d tried to dissuade her, but it did no good. Tatsuya, now in his second year at Georgetown had called to laugh his ass off at the picture of a miserable Taiga’s entire driveway taken up with his mom’s shipping container full of stuff. 

Tatsuya was only four hours away by car now, which was probably the closest Taiga had been to him since they were both in middle school. He was looking forward to driving over to Tatsuya’s dorm to give him a noogie in person. Hopefully he’d mess up Tatsuya’s just-so hairstyle enough that he’d have to lock himself into the bathroom and fix it, yelling at Taiga the entire time. 

It was in between getting off the phone with Tatsuya and starting to unpack the boxes labeled kitchen that Taiga first saw his housemate. At first, he’d thought it was a trick of the light, or maybe he’d left a jacket hanging on a stair post. But no, in the corner of his eyes, he saw it again -- a soft blue blur which resolved itself into a form of a boy with light blue hair and expressionless face. He looked pretty young, maybe too young for college -- but then again Taiga was pretty horrible about guessing ages. 

“Hey!” Taiga said, and the boy froze and looked at him, his eyes huge. Geez, did he really look that threatening? Taiga tried to put on what he thought was a welcoming smile. “Hey,” he said, a little softer this time. “I’m Taiga Kagami. You’re my housemate?” 

The boy blinked and considered this. “Yes, in some ways I suppose I am. I’m glad to meet you, Kagami-kun. I’m Kuroko Tetsuya.” He spoke in Japanese and Taiga was never more happy for those after school Japanese lessons that his mom had insisted he take throughout grade school. 

“You don’t have to be so formal, call me Taiga,” Taiga replied back, sticking out his hand. 

After a moment’s hesitation, Kuruko took and they shook hands. Kuruko’s hands looked small and insubstantial, especially compared to Taiga’s paw-like grip, but he was stronger than he looked. His hands were really cold though, and Taiga wondered if he had some kind of circulation problem. 

Kuroko gave him a shy smile -- or, really, a curious uplift of his mouth indicated that he was smiling -- and said, “I hope we can be friends, Kagami-kun -- ah, Taiga-kun.” 

“Kagami is also fine,” Taiga said with a grin. Kuroko looked a lot more relieved than he’d imagined and Taiga laughed. He realized then he was still holding Kuroko’s hand. He let go and nodded vigorously. “Also, yeah. Absolutely. I think so too.” 

And that was how Taiga met Kuroko. 

*

In a lot of ways, Kuroko was the ideal roommate. (Taiga had, with Kuroko’s permission, tried out calling him Tetsuya, but it didn’t seem right. Besides, if Taiga put him in his contacts like that, the chances of him accidentally dialing Tatsuya went up at least fifty-percent. So Kuroko it was -- even though Kuroko had so far failed given him his number so none of Taiga's reasoning was all that valid.) 

Kuroko's stuff arrived a few days after he did, but he didn’t seem to mind it -- he’d obviously packed for the couple of days, though his clothes never really seemed to change. But he also didn’t smell like anything, so that was fine. Taiga offered to help him unpack, but Kuroko politely declined his offer. His things disappeared quickly into his side of the house. 

Kuroko wasn’t loud. If he ever played music when he was home, Taiga didn’t notice it. He kept to himself a lot, but occasionally greeted Taiga when he was running out the door to class or coming back late from practice. 

He was nice. Being around him was really restful, though Taiga didn’t really think Kuroko was necessarily a very calming person. Still waters and all that. He was a very interesting person, though, maybe the most interesting person Taiga had ever met. 

The only real problem was that the house’s heating system really seemed on the fitz on Kuroko’s side of it -- it was always cold as hell when Taiga ventured over there, mostly to ask if Kuroko wanted something to eat or not. Invariably, Kuroko would decline. Taiga couldn’t figure out if it was because Kuroko hated his cooking or if it was, as Kuroko always insisted, that he had a highly specific and regimented diet that he never swayed from. Which he had just eaten, every time Taiga went looking for him. 

Eventually Taiga gave up on that. After dinner, anyway, Kuroko would wander in and ask him questions about his day. They’d watch TV -- or rather, Taiga would watch TV while Kuroko would read or look passively at his phone -- he had one of those powder-blue flip phones that Taiga teased him about when he first saw it, though he shut up about when Kuroko had shrugged and said, “It still works. Why should I get rid of it?” 

And Taiga could respect that, as a stand against the whole fucked up system of planned obsolescence and stuff like that. 

Besides Kuroko, Taiga’s freshman year was shaping up well. His classes were pretty hard and he didn’t understand about fifty percent of what his professors said, but most of the other students had similar lost expressions on their faces too, so that was okay. In high school, Taiga had been all basketball all the time, but in college he’d resolved to stretch his wings a little bit. Explore new things. He hadn’t decided on a major yet, but his favorite class so far was a comparative lit class taught by an youngish adjunct professor who reminded him of Tatsuya. 

When he’d sent a picture of him to Tatsuya, he’d received a languid text from the original. _Eh, I’d do him._ Which was sort of like his brother’s seal of approval, but Taiga had always been more straightlaced than him or Alex, so that only flustered him. Maybe having a crush on someone who reminded him of Tatsuya was a bad idea. 

He wondered what Kuroko thought. Taiga had no classes with him, and actually he never saw Kuroko on campus anyway, which made it hard to plan any kind of study sessions with Kuroko, or hang out with him anywhere except at home. Taiga didn't even know what Kuroko was majoring in or planning to major in. 

As for basketball -- i.e. the reason he'd come to this university in the first place -- Taiga had to admit, his pride had taken a major hit recently. He'd come out high school thinking he was pretty hot shit -- and everything seemed confirm that belief, including a full ride to his current school, which had one the best basketball teams in the country as well as past roster full of NBA luminaries -- but as soon as he'd come to his first practice, Taiga's ego had experience short but brutal reality check.

He'd been the best player in his high school, but that didn't mean anything here. He was put to work on the first day and he'd almost collapsed at the end of it. And, the cherry on the sundae, he hadn't even made it to the first string.

He'd heard rumors that there was a guy who'd made it to the starting lineup without ever stepping foot into practice, but he was pretty sure that was just a rumor meant to mess with the newbies' heads. (And it sort of worked too.)

Kuroko appeared at his side one day when Taiga had returned from practice, sweat still dripping from his hair because he hadn't had time to shower before catching the last bus home. Taiga nearly jumped as high as he did in court, he was so freaked. He didn't know how Kuroko could just _do_ that -- simply to not be here one moment and be there the next and then blandly claim he'd been there the entire time.

"Do you like basketball, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked him, gesturing to the ball that Taiga was still holding on to, despite his shock.

"Yeah, of course I love it," Taiga said with a short. "I wouldn't play otherwise."

Kuroko nodded approvingly. "I'm glad. Basketball is by far my favorite thing in the world."

"Well, yeah, you're here to play it -- although I never see you at practice." Could he be ...? 

Nah. Taiga shook his head. That would be impossible. Kuroko looked him curiously.

"Kagami-kun is mistaken," Kuroko said. "I am not here to play."

"Ah? I could've sworn ..."

"I used to play, but I was -- permanently injured."

"I'm sorry," Taiga said with a sympathetic nod. "It's tough -- my mentor, Alex, had to quit the WNBA because of a pretty rare vision disorder. Really threw her for a loop before she could get back on track again."

Kuroko nodded. “That’s what I’m here to do as well. Get things back on track.” 

Taiga nodded and patted Kuroko affectionately on the top of his head. Kuroko’s eyes flashes and Taiga quickly withdrew his hand. 

*

It was a week into October when Taiga heard a loud crash coming from the kitchen. Someone had broken in, he was sure of it, and he grabbed an old softball bat from under his bed and went downstairs to investigate. He found Kuroko hanging around the stairs, looking anxious. 

“Kuroko! Go back to bed, I can handle it,” Taiga said, and Kuroko gave him a small smile. 

“Kagami-kun is clearly very tough, but I would like to accompany you, if I could,” Kuroko said. 

“Um, okay, but stay behind me,” Taiga said, and they made their way to the kitchen. 

All the kitchen lights were on and the fridge was wide open. There was a huge guy digging through last night’s chicken roast, and he tore off a drumstick to eat. He -- actually, Taiga was dismayed to realize that he was really good looking, tan and good-looking, and exactly what Taiga’s type would be, if Taiga had a type (which he didn’t.) He was dressed like he was going out -- or coming back in from going out. He looked Taiga over and dismissed him with a snort. He didn’t close the fridge door. 

Definitely not Taiga’s type then -- he hated people who left the fridge door open. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Taiga said. The guy looked tough. He was starting to doubt the wisdom of his softball bat security system. 

“I live here, dumbass,” said the guy. Then he looked over Taiga’s shoulder and frowned. “Tetsu, I told you not to follow me!” 

Kuroko stepped through Taiga -- it felt like he was plunged into a icy-cold shower -- and out the other side. He said, “I’m sorry, Aomine-kun, but I couldn’t haunt you from Japan.” 

“Wait -- what,” Taiga said. “What just happened? Kuroko, did you just walk through me?!"

“Tetsu’s a ghost, dumbfuck,” said Aomine (as he had to be), and finally closed the fridge door. 

“ _What?!_ ” 

* 

Half an hour later, they were all sitting around the kitchen table. Aomine was busy eating every single leftover Taiga had made that week and Taiga was staring at Kuroko until it felt like his eyes were about to fall out. 

“... That’s why your phone is so old and you never gave me your number,” Taiga said, as several pennies dropped at once. 

“Yeah, someone would literally have to be dead not to want to talk to a dumbshit like you,” Aomine said, with a laugh. He had a really mean laugh. Taiga wasn’t sure why Kuroko, who seemed like a nice person, would bother to haunt an asshole like him. 

“I apologize, Kagami-kun, for misleading you. I was taken aback when I realized that you could see me. Most people couldn’t, even when I was alive.” 

“How did you, um,” Taiga bit his lip. “How did you pass on?” 

“He had his nose stuck in a book when he was crossing the street. Bus hit him,” Aomine said, a little nonchalantly. Chiddingly, he said to Kuroko, “I always told you not to do that.” 

Kuroko ducked his head. “In my defense, it was a very exciting chapter.” 

“Y-you shouldn’t joke about these things!” Taiga said. 

Kuroko sighed. “I’ve always preferred to look on the bright side of death.” 

“Tetsu always had a weird sense of humor,” said Aomine moodily. He had finished with the chicken and now had moved on to beef stroganoff. 

“So why are you haunting this idiot?” Taiga said, gesturing to Aomine. 

“Fuck off,” Aomine said, his mouth full of pasta. Looking at him made Taiga feel hungry too, so he got up and got himself a plate and helped himself. Aomine looked like he was going to fight over the food -- despite the fact that Taiga had made all of it -- but at the last moment, he shrugged and let him have it. 

“I think,” Kuroko said, thoughtfully, as soon as Taiga had settled back down in his chair. “It was probably because Aomine-kun was the last person I spoke to when I died. I was still thinking of him when I was hit by that bus.” 

“And as young as you were, I mean, that’s the definition of unfinished business, right?” Taiga said. “Actually, how young were you when you died, Kuroko?” 

“I was sixteen.” 

“I knew you looked too young for college!” Taiga said, smacking the kitchen table with his open hand. “I didn’t want to say anything because -- ah, you know --” 

Both Kuroko and Aomine looked at him blankly. 

“Anyway… Um, are you going to disappear now? Is your unfinished business over?” 

Kuroko examined his hands critically. They looked solid enough, but Taiga was fast learning that that didn’t mean anything. “I don’t think so. But I’m glad Kagami-kun knows now. It was getting difficult to manage solidity for long periods of time.” 

“Don’t overdo it for this guy,” Aomine said. Kuroko sighed and went semi-transparent. Taiga was pretty sure his eyes were able to pop out from his head. 

“It’s not polite to stare when I’m translucent like this, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko said. 

“Um, sorry.” Taiga coughed to hide his embarrassment. “So, Kuroko, you’re doing to … stay here? For the time being?” 

“Yes. I can go wherever Aomine-kun goes, since I haunt him. But I think I am able to go wherever Kagami-kun goes too, now.” 

“Oh? You’re haunting me?” Taiga said, feeling not as upset as he probably should have, with the news that he was haunted. 

Kuroko nodded. “I’m afraid so.” 

“I don’t really mind,” Taiga said hurriedly. 

“Might change your mind when he suddenly shows up in the shower and says he’s been here the whole time you’ve been washing your balls,” Aomine said with a yawn. Taiga glared at him. Kuroko’s expression didn’t change so much as it … shifted a little guiltily. 

Aomine laughed. “I’m kidding, Tetsu. You know I like it.” 

“I’m glad, Aomine-kun. And it was only that one time,” said Kuroko, a touch defensively. 

“Kuroko,” Taiga said suddenly. 

“Yes, Kagami-kun?” 

“What book were you reading when you died?” 

“ _Infinite Jest_ ,” Kuroko said, as he disappeared. “I’m afraid I didn’t get the joke for a long time.” 

Taiga shook his head. He didn’t get the joke at all. 

*

The next day, Taiga woke up with a dry mouth and an empty house. He didn’t mind the latter very much, although he debated whether or not to leave a note on the fridge saying that he was going on a grocery run after practice, in case anyone needed anything. 

Kuroko obviously wouldn’t and Aomine -- Taiga sniffed, remembering the absolute huge amounts of food he’d put away last night. Thinking about it, Taiga realized that the food had been steadily disappearing from the fridge for weeks now. He’d always assumed that Kuroko had a habit of snacking after midnight, but it must have been Aomine. 

Nah. That guy could shop for himself. 

(Nonetheless, Taiga left a note with his cellphone number on it -- just in case.) 

He couldn’t really concentrate during class, and when the handsome comp lit professor called him to continue the reading from last week, Taiga fumbled through his bag before he realized that he’d left the book at home. Ashamed, he admitted that he didn’t have it, and the professor sighed and moved on. Taiga shared with a classmate and felt miserable. 

He really wasn’t looking forward to practice, but even before he went to into the sports complex where practice was usually held, he realized that the gym was a lot more crowded than usual -- not with members of the team, but other students too. Even the college newspaper had sent someone, and once Taiga got a good look at what was happening on the court, he realized why. 

Aomine was at practice -- and he was insanely good. He was going one on one with one of the team’s most practiced seniors, a guy who easily could’ve gotten drafted early and scored a plush NBA contract -- and Aomine was wiping the floor with that guy. His moves were unreal -- he was poetry in motion -- Taiga wanted nothing more than to go up against him and _try_ \-- 

He was hit with the biggest feeling of regret in his entire life. He realized that he didn’t want to be on the same team as Aomine. Hell no. He wanted to go up against him, and try desperately to beat him. _I want to beat him. I want him. No, I want to beat him. No, I want to beat him and I want him._

Taiga’s head wanted to explode. 

Aomine caught his eye and smirked. He left off the senior -- a mere shell of a man, now -- and sauntered over to Taiga. “Wanna go one on one?” 

“Fuck yes,” Taiga said, fervently. 

But by then the shock of Aomine’s presence had worn away and order was restored. They didn’t get to play one on one until practice was over and that was in one of the outdoor courts with the lights blazing overhead. Taiga was losing, but he almost didn’t care. It was exhilarating just playing with Aomine. He could keep going all night -- at least, that’s what he told himself.

Sometimes when he glanced at the sidelines, he could sometimes see a slight, blue-haired figure watching them. But Taiga couldn’t focus on that, not when it took all he had to keep Aomine at bay.

In the end, Aomine pretty much crushed him, but Taiga didn’t feel too badly about it. He was still standing, mostly, and it seemed like even Aomine, asshole though he undoubtedly was, seemed satisfied with the outcome. 

“I came to the States because I thought I’d meet the strongest players here,” Aomine said as they walked home, almost leaning against each other. “But no one could beat me. You can’t either, but…” 

“I’m gonna,” Taiga said, practically panting in Aomine’s ear. Fuck, he was so hot.

“Keep dreaming, dumbass,” Aomine said, with a laugh. 

But it wasn’t a mean laugh, not this time. 

*

Kuroko was really smug the morning after. He floated through the house, startling Taiga who was chopping up vegetables for a stew. 

“Kagami-kun,” Kuroko said, in the space exactly behind Taiga’s ear. Taiga’s knife skidded dangerously close to his thumb. 

“Ah! Kuroko, don’t do that!” Taiga said, turning around and glaring at Kuroko, who looked back with him blandly. He was floating a few feet up from the floor, so he could look at Taiga in the eye. 

“I am very glad that you are getting along with Aomine-kun,” Kuroko said. He ignored Taiga's strenuous denials and nodded like Taiga had agreed with him. His eyes were shining a very spooky blue. It was pretty mesmerizing.

“I feel like I could -- stretch out a little bit,” Kuroko said. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“I’ll be back soon,” he said, disappearing. 

“Wait, Kuroko, where are you going --?” 

But Kuroko didn’t reply. He was gone. 

*

Kuroko was away for about two weeks. Taiga went to class, went to practice. Sometimes he saw Aomine, sometimes he didn’t. He made the first string, which he knew that he would, but he was still riding the bench during games. If the coach had the option of using Aomine, why would he chose to use Taiga? The conviction that it would be better if they were in opposing teams became stronger for Taiga. 

But those private games, the one on one games, how could he replace those? 

“You miss Kuroko?” Taiga asked, just as Aomine was about to make a basket. He hesitated for split second before letting go. The ball hit the rim and wobbled for a moment before going in. 

“You don’t know shit about what’s between me and Kuroko,” said Aomine, an arrogant twist on his lips. 

“I didn’t ask about that, you dick,” Taiga said, pissed off. 

“Like I said.” 

The ball flew past Taiga’s head and he turned to chase after it. 

The next basket was his. 

*

Taiga was the one who pushed Aomine against the fence and kissed him. Aomine bit at Taiga’s lips, but when he tried to pull away, Aomine wouldn’t let him go. Taiga felt like Aomine was trying consume him. But the worst thing Taiga was willing to let him, even though he had this nagging feeling that something was missing. 

*

“Tetsu, you bastard! Where did you go?!” 

Taiga woke up to Aomine’s bellowing and went back to sleep, feeling happier than he had for weeks. 

*

Kuroko examined both of them carefully during dinner. “What have you two been doing while I was gone?” 

“We didn’t do anything,” Taiga said, stuffing his mouth with meatballs. 

“Ah. Well, we fucked,” Aomine said nonchalantly. 

“Stop lying, you dick!” Taiga spluttered, spraying meatball pieces all over the table. 

Kuroko blinked and gave them a brief smile. “I see.” 

“Where did you go, Tetsu?” Aomine said, ignoring Taiga’s glares. 

“I visited some people,” Kuroko confessed. “My parents. Some of my friends. Kise. Momoi-san says hi.” 

“I can’t believe they let her care package through customs,” Aomine groused. “I’m sure it violates at least a couple of international treaties.” 

“She suggests that you call her rather than depend on otherworldly messengers to reassure her that you’re all right, but I informed her that I hadn’t come at your prompting.” 

“Every time I call her, I’m stuck on the phone for hours. I’ll see her during winter break. How’s Kise?”

“Exactly the same.” 

“I don’t know who any of these people are,” Taiga said, looking at his phone. 

“I’m sorry, Kagami-kun, that was rude of me. My parents are obvious, I hope, but Kise-kun and Momoi-san were friends from middle school, which was a very -- intense experience. Momoi-san is also Aomine-kun’s childhood friend.” 

“Is that our fault?” Aomine said, glaring at him. “Maybe if you’d lived in Japan instead of fucking around LA, you would know who these people are.” 

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Taiga said. “Also, it’s not my fault you guys went to the world’s most intense middle school.” Taiga remember middle school -- he’d spent most of it playing basketball and stealing Tatsuya’s porn collection. It wasn’t the best experience, but he didn’t look as haunted as either Kuroko or Aomine did. 

 

*

It was their first away game where Taiga finally got off the bench, taking the first half while Aomine took the second. They racked up the points between them and at the end, there was the press to talk to, and speculation about playoffs to fend off. By the time Taiga got back to the hotel room (which he shared with Aomine, a fact that both irritated and thrilled him), he found Kuroko reading on Aomine’s bed. He waved vaguely at his direction and crashed into his extremely soft bed.

He slept for maybe an hour before he woke up, completely awake and complete horny. Aomine’s bed was empty, but he waited for Aomine came out of the shower, trailing steam behind him. He caught Taiga’s hungry look as easily as a pass. 

“You look like you want to eat me up,” Aomine said with a challenging grin.

“Yeah,” Taiga said. He looked around for a moment and said, “Kuroko, are you here?” 

“Yeah. Tetsu, can you come out?” Aomine said, sounding as tentative as Taiga had ever heard him.

“Yes,” said a small voice from under Taiga’s bed. Taiga pulled him up -- he was solid but cold against Taiga’s skin. Taiga had a feeling that if he could just get close enough, he’d be able to warm Kuroko up, at least a little. 

“It didn’t feel right without you, last time,” Taiga admitted. 

“Oh,” Kuroko said. He didn’t exactly blush, but he didn’t really have to. Aomine pushed their beds together and tackled Kuroko. He pressed a frantic kiss onto Kuroko’s mouth before Taiga pulled him away to kiss himself. This was what had been missing the first time. Now that he knew, he would never let either of them go. 

Kuroko seemed to sense this because he pressed his forehead against Taiga for a moment and sighed. “I can’t, you know. Not forever. You two are going to live for a long time and my time here is limited.” 

“So that means we should be fucking now,” Aomine said. “Clock’s ticking.” 

“Don’t listen to him,” Taiga said. “Relax. Don’t turn invisible.” 

“Unless you wanna watch the first time,” Aomine said with a wink. 

Kuroko blushed so hard that he _did_ disappear. But he came back five minutes later and proved to Aomine that he wasn’t content to just watch.

(Taiga wouldn’t have had it any other way.)

**Author's Note:**

> \- So today, I was sulking around because I had a two week vacation and hadn't written anything! So I sat down and wrote this? I wish I could apply this kind of determination to literally any other aspect of my life, for reals. 
> 
> \- Taiga introduces himself as Taiga Kagami because he's speaking in English, but for the rest of the fic I suppose they're all talking in a combo of English and Japanese. I think Aomine would refuse to talk in anything but Japanese, no matter how good or how bad his English is. Which, you know, combined with his attitude, will probably show up in his upcoming ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, _Blue Lightening_. 
> 
> \- I felt suuuuuuuuper-bad about killing off Kuroko, but you know, I used to walk around reading just like he did ... And the guy in front of me got hit by a bus. Mad traumatic. So. Yeah, pay attention to your surroundings!


End file.
